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Nearly 30 years after playing a three-night run at San Francisco’s venerable Great American Music Hall, Zero released a two-CD set capturing some of that magic from 1992 as Naught Again (Omnivore Recordings) hit the streets May 20.

The album, along with interviews with founding members drummer Greg Anton and guitarist Steve Kimock, was featured on the May 21 edition of Greasy Tracks.

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

Hartford native Anton and Kimock trace their collaboration roots to early 1980 and The Heart of Gold Band, a short-lived line-up featuring ex-Grateful Dead members husband/wife Keith and Donna Godchaux along with bassist John Kahn.

The passing of Keith Godchaux, only days after the band’s debut appearance, hastened the breakup of the group, but Anton and Kimock continued working together in the studio and by 1984, with a somewhat loose aggregation of players, made their first appearance as Zero.

The early edition of the band featured guitarist John Cipollina who remained with Zero until his death in 1989. Core members over the years included bassist Bobby Vega, saxophonist Martin Fierro, keyboardists Banana and John Farey amongst others.

They released their debut studio album, Here Goes Nothing in 1987, followed by Nothing Goes Here (1989).

In 1992, the band, which had primarily played instrumentals since forming, started working with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Vocalist Judge Murphy soon joined and the Zero became a regular go-to for Hunter’s material.

Joined by a handful of special guests, Zero performed at the Great American Music Hall Oct. 14-16, 1992. A portion of those shows was released in 1994 on Chance In A Million. With keyboardist Pete Sears part of Zero during this period, the banded also had Nicky Hopkins and Vince Welnick alternating on piano during the run.

In addition to some spoken word moments provided by Hunter, 11 live tracks culled from the string of shows make up the new release. A two-LP set is planned for release this fall.

Zero — which is reportedly lining up East Coast dates for the fall — played a series of shows earlier this month on the West Coast and will play concerts in the Pacific Northwest in July. Kimock is on the road with Steve Kimock & Friends throughout June, including an appearance at Park City Music Hall in Bridgeport on June 18.

A career overview of legendary guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was presented on the May 7 edition of Greasy Tracks which marked the start of its 28th year on WRTC.

The program included an interview with Baxter as well as tracks from his up-coming debut solo album, Speed of Heat (Renew/BMG).

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

A Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Baxter is best-known for his work with Steely Dan — he was a founding member — and The Doobie Brothers, as well as a lengthy list of session and production work he’s been part of.

Baxter starts a tour this month with dates at The Iridium in New York City (May 6-7); The Music Room in West Yarmouth, Mass. (May 11); Wall Street Theater in Norwalk (May 12) and TCan Center For Arts in Natick, Mass. (May 13). There will be ticket giveaways for the Wall Street Theater date,

The new release is a mix of originals and a handful of covers of tracks, some featuring Baxter’s guitar work, that became F.M. radio staples, including “My Old School” and “Do It Again.” Guest appearances are made by Clint Black, Jonny Lang, Rick Livingstone and Michael McDonald who played with Baxter in Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers.

Interestingly, over the years, Baxter’s keen knowledge of missile defense systems/counterterrorism led to him becoming a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense and getting high-level security clearance at the Pentagon. Baxter chairs the Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense and discusses this fascinating part of his career, which includes playing on eight platinum records, as well as winning a handful of Grammys.

Vocalist Deborah Bonham and guitarist Peter Bulick discussed their just-released self-titled debut on the April 30 edition of Greasy Tracks.

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

Interestingly, despite their traditionally U.K.-based blues approach as performers,  Bonham-Bullick  (Quarto Valley Records)  as them doing innovative takes on an interesting mix of 13 covers that comprise the album.

Bonham is the sister of Led Zeppelin founder/drummer John Bonham. She and Bullick are married and their veteran band gained rave reviews backing Paul Rodgers during his Free Spirit Tour.

The first single from the album, Albert King’s “Can’t You See What You’re Doing to Me” was released this week.

A special edition of Monday Morning Jazz aired May 2 with Kevin and Devo featuring the music of Adam Hawley and Lindsey Webster.

Check out the archive by clicking here,

A recent interview by Devo with Hawley was included along with tracks from recent releases Escape and Risin’ Up.

Webster and Hawley will be performing at the John Lyman Center in New Haven on May 7.

Hawley was born and raised in Portland, Ore., doctorate of musical arts from the University of Southern California. He teaches at Musician’s Institute, Chaffey College, and Saddleback College.

Webster hales from Woodstock, N.Y., and recently released her fifth album A Woman Like Me. She previously had a No. 1 hit on the jazz charts with her album You Change.

The 14th edition of The Trinity Samba Fest takes place April 23 on the campus of Trinity College. The event runs 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and features a variety of local, regional and international musicians.

The fest takes place rain or shine and admission is free and open to the public.

WRTC’s on site coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. with Sam Braga, Lou Pomales, Max Norteman and John Schwenk hosting and interviewing artists, organizers, dignitaries and spectators as well as providing an overview of the proceedings. Click here to listen live

“This year’s Samba Fest will present musicians who make you think in totally different ways about how people approach a musical instrument,” said Eric Galm, professor of music and ethno-musicology, chair of the Music Department, and co-director of the Center for Caribbean Studies at Trinity College.

The main stage will be at Trinity’s Jacobs Life Sciences Center Quad — located behind 240 New Britain Ave. — with parking available around the Koeppel Community Sports Center, on New Britain Avenue, Summit Street and Broad Street.

This year’s headlining artists, traveling from Brazil, include multiple Latin Grammy Award-winning guitarist and composer Yamandu Costa, with special guest Richard Scofano on bandoneon, as well as innovative percussionist Serginho Silva and his Ensemble.

Other Samba Fest performers include: the Galm-directed Trinity Samba Ensemble with special guest José Paulo; Trinity Steel, directed by Curtis Greenidge; and African-inspired drumming and dancing with Friendz World Music.

An array of family-friendly activities, crafts and games will be available at Samba Fest, plus food trucks will be on site with a variety of menu offerings.

One of rock’s legendary albums was discussed on the April 9 edition of Greasy Tracks as the focus turns to the recent two-CD re-issue of Spirit’s 1970 masterpiece, The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (Esoteric Recordings).

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

Best known for “Nature’s Way” — one of Spirit’s most recognized songs, Sardonicus has always had a mystique to it. An incredible work, albeit by a band in turmoil and near a breaking point, akin to a fractured Beatles somehow making Abby Road.

To provide some insight to the re-issue, which includes 11 bonus tracks and 17 live cuts recorded in 1970 at the Fillmore West and Boston Tea Party, there was an interview with Mick Skidmore who produced, compiled and mastered the package. Skidmore is the trustee of the Randy Craig Wolfe estate.

Wolfe, best known as of Randy California, one of the founders of Spirit, was an innovative guitarist who had earlier played with Jimi Hendrix in his band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. It was Hendrix who gave him the name “California” to differentiate him from bassist Randy Palmer whom he nicknamed “Randy Texas.”

Sardonicus was Spirit’s fourth album and the first that did not have Lou Adler producing. Adler, the founder of Ode Records, signed Spirit who released their self-titled debut and follow-up, The Family That Plays Together, on the label in 1968. They followed with Clear in 1969.

Spirit enlisted David Briggs, best known for his work with Neil Young, to produce Sardonicus. The connection to Briggs came via Spirit keyboardist John Locke being friends with Young.

Upon release, Sardonicus didn’t set the charts alight, reaching only No. 69 in the Billboard 200. Over time, it gained more attention and appreciation, going Gold in 1976.

That the album was released at all was a miracle as the band was hardly functioning as a unit. During the recording, all members were never in the studio at the same time. Creative and personality differences were marred by questionable lifestyle choices by band members, especially California. During the mixing of Sardonicus, California fractured his skull after falling off a horse.

It would be the last album all five founding members would make together until 1984 when the released The Thirteenth Dream.

Following the release of Sardonicus, the band endeavored to go on the road to support the album, but it was a half-hearted effort at best. California’s post-accident mental state had worsened and he cancelled a highly anticipated tour of Japan. The original line-up played its final show together at the Fillmore East in New York on Jan. 30, 1971.

Bassist/vocalist Mark Andes and keyboardist/vocalist Jay Ferguson would leave to form Jo Jo Gunne; California would enter rehab; and drummer Ed Cassidy and Locke picked up Al Staehely (bass) and Chris Staehely (guitar) as Spirit limped on.

The paths of the founders would cross over the years, but in the grand scheme of things, it would be the duo of California and Cassidy that proved to be the longest-working partnership. The pair linked up again in 1972 when California released his debut solo album, Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds. They would go on to release eight additional Spirit albums, the final, California Blues, in 1996 a year before California’s death at age 45 when he drowned.

Veteran guitarist and songwriter Tom Guerra was a guest on the March 26 edition of Greasy Tracks where he discussed his just-released album, Sentimental Junk (Thin Man Music).

Check out the archive by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

In addition to playing a handful of tracks from the album, Guerra and host Chris Cowles will spotlight some of their favorite guitarists, especially those who would be considered obscure.

The album, Guerra’s fifth, was recorded in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic which threw a mighty monkey wrench into the entire music industry.

“This is a back-to-the-roots thing for me,” said Guerra “My last album featured a lot of acoustic tunes, but this record reflects my renewed love affair with the electric guitar and the pent-up energy that being in lockdown for two years brings.”

While the pandemic drove many musicians and fans alike stir crazy, Guerra found a sense of therapy in the creative process. “Being stuck inside for a couple years made us all a little restless,” he admitted, “and I think that energy comes across on this record. It’s a good feeling to write, and people need music — especially during times like these.”

Of the 11 cuts on the album, 10 are originals with Bob Dylan’s “Clean Cut Kid” the lone cover. “I loved Dylan’s ‘Clean Cut Kid’,” said Guerra, “and I was curious to see how it might fare with a harder, straight-ahead rock and roll arrangement.”

Similar to earlier projects, Guerra enlisted the help of some crack musicians to help bring his songs to life in the studio, including long-time collaborator Kenny Aaronson who has worked with the likes of Bob Dylan, The Yardbirds and George Harrison. Keyboardists Matt Zeiner and Morgan Fisher (Mott The Hoople) and drummer Mike Kosacek rounded out the backing band. Singer Scott Lawson Pomeroy, Guerra’s bandmate from Mambo Sons, contributed vocals to “Eyes of the World,” a tribute to Leslie West.

The first single off the album, “California’s Got to My Girl,” is an R&B-based vocal duet with legendary Boston musician Jon Butcher.

Since the late 1970s, Guerra has been a popular guitarist on the New England club circuit, playing with a host of leading blues, rock and R&B acts.

He first gained notoriety after being featured in the March 1991 issue of Guitar Player. Over the years, he’s recorded or played with Rick Derringer, The Dirty Bones Blues Band, E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, Mark Nomad, The Easton Brothers with Muddy Waters bassist Charles Calmese, Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson of The Allman Brothers Band, Second Son, Guitar Shorty, Adolph Jacobs of The Coasters, Aaronson and The Delrays, for which he received acclaim from Buddy Guy.

He formed Mambo Sons in 1999 and the group released four albums of original music over the next 15 years.

In 2014, Guerra released his first solo album, All of the Above, a collection of 11 original rock tracks. The CD was critically acclaimed and favorably reviewed in numerous music and guitar magazines as well as mainstream media such as The Huffington Post.

He also spent a five-year period working for Johnny Winter, penning liner notes as the guitarist released a handful of live recordings via The Bootleg Series and has done extensive studio work since the late 1980’s.

In 2016, he released Trampling Out the Vintage followed by American Garden (2018) and Sudden Signs of Grace (2020).

The March 5 edition of Greasy Tracks featured an interview with bassist John Lodge who spent 50-plus years with the Moody Blues and is currently gearing up for a solo tour.

The program spotlighted music from across Lodge’s career as well as paying tribute to a handful of “Brumbeat” bands from Birmingham, England.

Check out the archives by clicking here, while a playlist is here. 

Lodge and his 10,000 Light Years Band hits the road to support the just-released live offering, The Royal Affair And After (BFD/Halesouth) which captured the band on stage during a 2019 tour with Asia, Arthur Brown, Carl Palmer and Yes. He plays Infinity Hall (Norfolk) on March 8, The Warehouse in Fairfield on March 12 and Infinity Hall (Hartford) on March 13.

Lodge joined the Moody Blues in 1966 and his first project with the then-rhythm and blues-influenced band was the concept album, Days of Future Passed. The 1967 effort remains one of the more innovative releases of the decade as it merged rock with orchestral components to produce one of progressive rock’s first masterpieces.

In hindsight, it was a series of musical collaborations which led to Lodge coming into the Moody’s fold which recorded their “core seven” albums in the sixties through the early 1970s.

Lodge and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ray Thomas started playing together in their early teens. They would be part of Birmingham-based El Riot and the Rebels, which also included keyboardist Mike Pinder. Pinder, Thomas and drummer Graeme Edge were on the Moody’s debut album The Magnificent Moodies (1965). Lodge joined at the same time guitarist Justin Hayward was brought in to replace Denny Laine. Lodge and Hayward went on to become primary writers in the group which boasted four vocalists in Lodge, Hayward, Thomas and Pinder.

Lodge’s contributions are considered some of the Moody’s most popular recordings, including: “I’m Just A Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band),” “(Evening) Time To Get Away,” “Ride My See-Saw,” “House of Four Doors,” “Eyes of a Child,” “Isn’t Life Stange,” “Talking Out of Turn,” “Candle of Life” and “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone.”

London-based bands and artists traditionally garnered the most attention of the press when it came to the music industry as the Moody Blues started making a mark, but there were other West Midland’s bands who would go on to turn heads including The Move, The Spencer Davis Group, Black Sabbath, Traffic, The Electric Light Orchestra and Chicken Shack to name but a few groups who got their start in Birmingham.

The Moody Blues were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 and effectively stopped touring and recording following Edge’s retirement that year. Thomas died only a few months before the induction ceremonies. Edge passed away in 2021 at which time the band effectively broke up.

Lodge and Hayward, who collaborated on a studio album, Blue Jays in 1974, continue to record and tour with their own bands.

WRTC marked its 75th anniversary on Feb. 26 and while there’s absolutely no connection, the Greasy Tracks and EsoteROCK programs collaborated by putting on a six-hour feature of bands and artists from Michigan.

Check out the archives by clicking here or here, while a playlist is here. 

When it comes to musical styles, this presentation will run the gamut.

Listeners will of course hear many of the expected suspects who are synonymous with the state, especially those hailing from Detroit, but should be prepared for a challenging mix of music as well as insight from Grand Funk Railroad founding member Mark Farner and Shaun Murphy who did spells with Bob Seger, Eric Clapton and Little Feat, amoungst others.